Saturday, September 22, 2012

"lynching" ... where the people rule

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Is this a story about justice or is it a story about vigilante justice? Is it crazy or is it palpably sane?

A man said by his mother to have drug and mental problems was beaten and burned to death in Tactic, Guatamala, after he killed two school children with a machete. A lynching of sorts. A decision reached by towns people. In Mayan towns, the people rule.

The killer did not escape. Four men accused of being accomplices were later said to be thieves ... and were badly beaten but were spared the gasoline that some called for in their cases.

The blog post by Reuters photographer Jorge Dan Lopez is not a perfect news story. It leaves questions unanswered. And yet its very imperfection lends credibility and human reality to the reporting ... or at least in my mind.
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1 comment:

How sad that it is already 2012 and there are still countrys in the world where mental illness is not recognised or treated ( including the usa and Canada ). He was obviously mentaly ill . We really need to start fighting to get better care and treatment for the mentaly ill among us . Anita

My name is Adam Fisher. I live in Northampton, Mass., U.S.A. I have a wife and three children. This is my blog and consists of almost-daily postings -- sometimes (older) about the Zen Buddhism I have admired and practiced for something short of 50 years; sometimes about other 'spiritual' matters; and (more recently) about whatever strikes my fancy. Except to the extent that it might help others to consider what sort of fool they might prefer not to be, this blog does not aim to help anyone. Writing is an old and diminishing habit. It's what I do. Once upon a time, I built a zendo/meditation hall in the backyard here and invited people to come. The zendo is still there and my Dharma name is still "Genkaku" ("original realization" or "original understanding") but these days the formality of meditation has drained. Black Moon Zendo is still a good zendo, but I am 77 in 2017 ... creaky and disinclined. I honor those who make courageous journeys, but am hoist by my own observation that "Just because you are indispensable to the universe does not mean the universe needs your help." Best wishes to all. I can be contacted at genkakukigen@aol.com